AOL’s hyperlocal Patch sites are sweatshops, editor claims
There are a couple of pieces around today on AOL’s ambitious hyperlocal plans that highlight how its growth is being fuelled by journalists working long hours for low pay, according to an email from an insider.
AOL has ambitious plans to expand its hyperlocal network of websites, which already number 90.
According to a piece on the Boston Globe’s website AOL will spend $50m to expand Patch.com nationally in the US by the end of the year.
In some of those markets it is expanding in its plans are logic defying as it goes up against multiple competitors.
In Massachusetts, for instance, home of the Boston Globe, it faces both Boston.com growing network of local sites (Your Town) and local newspaper group GateHouse Media New England and its Wicked Local network of sites. In that market Patch has 13 sites against the Globe’s 31.
As well as AOL , The New York Times Company-owned Globe plans expansion as does GateHouse. Those two have the advantage of being part of established newspaper groups. AOL does not.
To succeed in hyperlocal where the competition is fierce it appears, according to an email from a Patch local editor sent to the Media Nation blog, that AOL is demanding a lot from its editors who are it is claimed working 70-hour weeks for as little as $40,000 (£25k).
The editor who emailed said that working conditions for local editors at Patch raise the question as to whether AOL’s hyperlocal model is sustainable.
“Basically, the job is 24/7 with so far little support in getting any kind of time off — nights, weekends, vacation days guaranteed under our AOL contract. (Some regional editors do try to help; others don’t.) This time-off issue has become a major concern among local editors. You might hear about the 70-hour work weeks. Yes, 70 hours and more. It’s a start-up and all that, and I knew it would be hard work going in. But what is becoming distressing is this sense that I can’t get a break. I’ve worked in journalism for more than 20 years as a newspaper reporter, online editor, magazine editor, and I’ve never worked so much in my life.”
AOL’s hyperlocal expansion is a major tenet of the plans of Tim Armstrong, AOL chairman and chief executive, to recast the one time ISP business as a content business.
His plans are aggressive and ambitious as he organises an online land grab fuelled by Patch, AOL’s network of blogs, such as Politicsdaily.com and gossip site TMZ, and its acquisition of content Seed.com.
It is a risky plan. Look only to the experiences elsewhere in the New York Times Company. Last month The New York Times pulled the plug on its hyperlocal project The Local as despite – an admission that it could not make hyperlocal pay. Add to that the failure of The Washington Post, it closed its hyperlocal operation (LoudounExtra.com) last year.
Read also - Jury is out on whether hyperlocal journalism can pay
All Comments
AOL are the worst Online property Bar-NONE! They have made a Pigs Ear out of nearly every property they have owned. Bebo – bought for almost $900 Million and sold last month for a little over 10 Million. Ad.com – died a death here in teh UK as did AOL which i think last week attracted 6 users.
If AOL buys into it all others should run as fast as possible in the other direction! FACT!!
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[...] hyperlocal market in the US has become a hotbed of development. Earlier this month it was reported that AOL plans to spend $50m to expand Patch.com nationally in the US by the end of the [...]
[...] Add to this AOL was recently reported to be hiring hundreds of editorial staff to expand its hyperlo…which it hopes to grow from 30 sites to hundreds by the end of this year. [...]
[...] it is clearly hard going for all concerned which bears out reports last year that one editor saying that Patch sites are sweatshops. “Traffic on individual sites is low; former editors say that the average post attracts just [...]
[...] These are huge targets and the drive towards them echoes claims made last year by one AOL editor that some of its hyperlocal Patch sites are sweatshops. [...]